Dam.



W. w. GOLPITTS.

DAM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEG, 1911. RENEWED MAY 20, 1912.

Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

W. W. GOLPITTS.

DAM.

APPLIOATION IILED-JUNEG, 1911. RENEWED MAY 20, 1912.

1,047,501, Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0.,WASHINUTON. n. c.

WALTER W. GOLPITTS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

DAM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

' Application filed June 6, 1911, Serial No. 631,670. Renewed May 20, 1912. Serial No. 698,625.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER W. GOLPITTS,

a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dams, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to dams of that type in which the pressure of the restrained water is utilized to assist in holding the dam in place, and my objects are to produce an efficient dam at low cost of such construction as will at all points readily accommodate itself within the limits of the elasticity of the materials of which it is constructed, to expansion and contraction and thereby eliminate the danger of the material, such as concrete, becoming ruptured through changes of temperature.

l/Vith this general object in view, the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construct-ion and organizationas hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a vertical section on the line I-I of Fig. 2. Fig. 2, is a plan view of a part of a dam embodying my invention. Fig. 3, is an enlarged section on the line IIIIII of Fig. 1. Fig. 4, is a fragmentary section on the line IVIV of Fig. 3 but on a small scale and partly broken away. Fig. 5, is a detail perspective View showing the preferred connection between certain reinforce rods employed in the structure. Fig. 6, is a section of the same character as Fig. 3, of an alternative construction.

In the said drawings, where like reference characters identify corresponding parts in 7 all the figures, 1 indicates the bed rock or artificial foundation, if necessary, of a stream or place where a dam is to be located, and 2 is a base course of concrete, laid for the full length of the dam transversely of the stream, and for anchorage purposes the lower surface of said bed course is of step form to obtain a more secure anchorage on the bed rock or foundation which is also preferably stepped or serrated as at 3, and said bed course is formed in the construction shown by Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, with concave seats 4, formed side by side for the full width of the bed course.

Series of concrete piers 5 are erected in the vertical planes of the spaces between the seats 4, said piers inclining toward the upstream side of the water course, and integrally formed with each series of piers 5 are concrete braces or beams 6 which extend substantially at right angles to the piers with which they connect, and alternate series of piers 5 are connected by transverse concrete braces or beams 7, it being understood that these piers and braces or beams are preferably strengthened by embedded rods, not shown.

The wall or deck of the dam inclines upwardly toward the downstream side and is constructed as follows :8 are concrete girders formed integrally with and connecting the upper ends of each series of piers 5, and also extending downward to and formed integrally with the base course 2, and between adjacent concave seats 4:; and

formed integrally with and connecting adacent girders 8 are bowed or channeled portlons 9, the said portions being of invertedarch form in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, and

seating in the concave seats and formed integral with the bed course 2. The girders are reinforced in any suitable manner but preferably by longitudinal series of embedded rods 10, and 11 and to effectually reinforce the inverted-arched portions 9 of the wall, bowed rods 12 arranged in inverted position extend transversely of and are embedded in the portions 9 and terminate at their upper ends in hooks 13, and for the purpose of distributing the strain, the hooks 13 are arranged in sets of threes with each hook of the set engaging a different reinforcing rod 11, as shown most clearly in Fig. 5. By this arrangement it will be seen that the hooks engaging the same reinforcing rods 11 will be spaced a considerable distance apart and the strain will be imposed through the entire width of the girder.

In the construction shown by Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, the thickness of the inverted-arch portions 9, is preferably uniform and the distances between the reinforcing rods 12 is gradually lessened as they approach the bed course, in order that the unit tensile stress in the reinforcing rods 12 will be uniform at all depths below the water surface.

In practice the upstream face of'the dam will preferably be provided with a water proof coating 14:, of suitable material which will adhere properly to the concrete.

As an alternative construction to that described, the bowed or channeled portions connecting the girders will be in the form of arches 15, (see Fig. 6) and in this case it is preferred that the bowed portions shall I increase in thickness downward or toward the bed course so that the unit compressive stress in the concrete of the arches 15 in a direction tangential to itscurved upper and lower surfaces, will be uniform at all depths below the water surface. In this case also arched reinforcing rods 16 and 17 will be embedded in the arched portions 15 near the downstream and upstream faces of the same respectively as shown in Fig. 6, and the hook terminals 18 of said rods will engage the reinforcing rods 10, of the girders 8.

I11 the construction shown by Figs. 1 to 4, the reinforcing rods 12 will be subjected to tensile stresses whereas in the construction shown by Fig. 6, the rods are intended to assist the concrete in effectually resisting compression stresses. For this reason it is preferred to employ the two series of rods 16 and 17 and to increase the thickness of the portions 15 as explained.

It will be apparent that under the construction described, the structure is free to expand and contract for its entire length transversely of the stream, without danger of rupture in the continuity of the concrete, and that expansion between adjacent girders will be accommodated by downward movement of the inverted-arch portions 9 and upward movement of the arched portions 15. Of course the arched and inverted-arch portions as well as the girders, piers and braces, would have a certain amount of expansive and contract-ive action in the direction of their length and would move in these directions without resistance. If the braces 7 were interposed between all of the adjacent series of piers instead of between alternate series, the piers then would be held in such rigid relation that proper expansion and contraction of the braces 7 would be impossible, and as a result there would be danger of rupture at the joining points of the piers and braces 7.

As the water accumulates earth or sand may be deposited to a certain extent upon the lower part of the base course 2 as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, and surplus water will overflow at the spillway or crest of the dam, and any suitable means may be employed to guard against undermining of the dam through the fall or overflow of the water, no means being shown as protective means for the purpose since such protective means named are common and well known and form no part of the invention.

From the above description it will be ap-- parent that I have produced a dam embodying the features of advantage enumerated and while I have illustrated and describedthe preferred embodiment of the invention I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be restricted to the exact details of construction shown and described as obvious modifications will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A dam, comprising a plurality of inclined girders, inclined channeled portions bridging the spaces between the girders, and piers underlying and supporting the girders; the girders and channeled portions and piers beingrigidly joined.

2. A dam, comprising a plurality of inclined girders and inclined channeled portions bridging the spaces between the girders, piers underlying and supporting the girders, and braces between alternate series of piers.

3. A dam, comprising a plurality of inclined girders and inclined channeled portions bridging the spaces between the girders, piers underlying and supporting the girders, and braces between alternate series of piers; said girders, channeled portions, piers and braces being rigidly joined.

4. A dam, comprising a plurality of inclined girders, and inclined channeled portions bridging the spaces between the girders, piers underlying and supporting the girders, braces between alternate series of piers, and braces between piers supporting the same girders. Y

5. A dam, comprising a plurality of inclined girders and inclined channeled portions bridging the spaces between the girders, piers underlying and supporting the girders, braces between alternate series of piers, and braces between piers supporting the same girders; said girders, channeled portions, piers and braces being rigidly joined.

6. A clined girders and inclined channeled portions bridging the spaces between the girders, piers underlying and supporting the girders, and braces between piers supporting the same girders.

7. A dam, comprising a plurality of inclined girders and correspondingly inclined channeled portions bridging the spaces between the girders, piers underlying and supporting the girders, and braces between piers supporting the same girders; said girders, channeled portions, piers and braces being'rigidly joined.

8. A dam, comprising a plurality of suitably-supported inclined girders, inclined channeled portions bridging the spaces between the girders, and bowed reinforcing rods embedded in said channeled portions and extending transversely thereof and anchored at their ends in adjacent girders.

9. A dam, comprising a plurality of suitably-supported inclined girders, inclined dam, comprising a plurality of inchanneled portions bridging the spaces between the girders, reinforcing rods embedded in the girders and extending longitudinally thereof, and bowed reinforcing rods extending transversely through said channeled portions and secured at their ends to reinforcing rods of the girders.

10. A dam, comprising a plurality of suitably-supported inclined girders, inclined 10 channeled portions bridging the spaces between the girclers,reinforcing rods embedded in the beams and extending longitudinally thereof, and bowed reinforcing rods extending transversely through said channeled portions and terminating in hooks engaging reinforcing rods of the girders.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

WALTER W. COLPITTS. Witnesses:

HELEN G. Romans, G. Y. THORPE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

